I am often surprised by how people respond to tragedy and bad news. Some are simply stunned. Others are angry. Others break down. Some are able to make a positive adjustment. And so it goes on.

Some years ago I did regular visiting at St Luke's Hospice in Winsford, and took a few services in the chapel there. I was often humbled by the faith and positive outlook of some patients. They could look back on their lives with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. They were grateful for all the things that had been given them or been done for them in the past. They were at peace with themselves and usually on good terms with family members. They were not blaming God for their present predicament. Rather, they seemed able to trust Him with their future. I noted that the staff also radiated positivity.

Needless to say, there were other patients who seemed very resentful. They did not want to talk with me as a representative of the church and were quite certain they would not be attending a chapel service.

Sad losses, pain and tragedy are the commonplaces of human experience. We might prolong life by advances in medicine and healthy living, but these do not fundamentally change the nature of things. Modern man/woman, or even post-modern man/woman, inevitably faces sadness and tragedy in various ways. As fast as we eliminate one menace (polio, diphtheria or TB, say) we seem to find another (Iraq or Afghanistan, aids, super bugs, say).

How are we to respond to what a prayer in the funeral service calls "this troublous life"? The answer is clear to me: we are to remain caring and upbeat, taking our example from Our Lord, St Paul and countless inspirational figures from the past and present, including those gallant folk mentioned above at St Luke's.

The modern philosopher A C Grayling, who has tirelessly pooh-poohed religious faith, has recently been reflecting on the impact on his life of the brutal murder of his sister. He wrote: because life has this big thick streak of tragedy that runs through it, it makes it all the more necessary and important to really put one’s best efforts into doing something of value, something that is good or positive…And, given the brevity of life…there’s not a great deal of margin for wasting time (Sunday Times Magazine May 11 2008).